1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nozzle plate of an inkjet printhead, and more particularly, to a nozzle plate including grooves formed around nozzles and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printhead is an apparatus that ejects very small droplets of printing ink on a printing medium in a desired position to print an image in a predetermined color. Inkjet printheads may be largely classified into thermal inkjet printheads and piezoelectric inkjet printheads. The thermal inkjet printhead produces bubbles using a thermal source and ejects ink due to the expansive force of the bubbles. The piezoelectric inkjet printhead applies pressure generated by deforming a piezoelectric material to ink and ejects the ink due to the generated pressure.
In an inkjet printhead, when ink pressed by a pressure chamber is ejected via a nozzle of a nozzle plate, ink may be hardened and more viscous due to evaporation of a solvent in a nozzle outlet, and the sticking of dust or the mixture of bubbles may occur, thereby resulting in ejection failures. In order to solve the ejection failures, the surface of the nozzle plate of the inkjet printhead is wiped using a blade. Also, when the nozzle is clogged with ink or ejection failures occur after the inkjet printhead is used over a long period, a suction process or a purging process is performed on the printhead. In this case, ink may flow out from the nozzle and remain on the surface of the nozzle plate and thus, the ink remaining on the surface of the nozzle plate should be removed using a wiper. However, a wiping process, which is performed periodically by bringing the wiper into contact with the nozzle, damages a thin hydrophobic layer coated on the surface of the nozzle plate, thereby detrimentally affecting the ejection performance of the printhead. Also, contaminant factors, such as particles, which are present around the nozzle, may be stuck into the nozzle during the wiping process, thereby causing ejection failures.